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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Pinspiring Me to Mod Podge: Coasters

Prior to this project, the last time I had a jar of Mod Podge in my possession was in college, circa 1998, to decorate a paddle for my sorority mom. Oh yes, Leah was a proud sister of the Alpha Sigma Pi (or Arrows, as we lovingly called ourselves).

I saw this Pinterest post, and was immediately drawn to the pretty simplicity of these coasters made by The Cottage Home:

And lucky me, there was a tutorial to go along with these pretty pictures! I was thrilled to see that the coasters were made out of bathroom tiles! Off to Home Depot and Michaels I went...

I returned with a large stack of scrapbooking paper, Mod Podge Paper Gloss, Mod Podge Dimensional Magic, 4.25"x4.25" Tiles, and foam brushes.

I set to work on a Friday night. Since I don't have a paper cutter (yet), and I opted for the cheapest tiles at the HD (which were beigish), I decided that I was going to cover the entire top surface of the tile with paper. I cut about an inch around the perimeter of the tile.

I then folded the paper over the edge of the tile to make slight creases. The creases were meant to be a guide for cutting out the corners.﻿

To avoid any weird overlap/hospital corners on the underside, I cut out the excess. Then it was time to Mod Podge the sucker. I applied the Podge to the tile to make sure it had a nice coat of the stuff. Since I was going to be applying the Dimensional Magic to the top of the paper, I wanted the paper to be as dry as possible.

﻿

I then placed the tile down on top of the paper, and applied a layer of the Podge to the flap to be folded over to the underside.

This required me pushing down, holding and smoothing the paper over the bumpy surface. Some Podge leaked out from underneath, but I just smeared it over the edge of the paper for added reinforcements.

Once all sides had been tacked down and dried, I set up my coaster tiles on tomato soup cans. What can I say, I use what resources I have available to me!

I am still getting the hang of documenting my work every step, so I missed a photo of the Dimensional Magic application. It's consistency is like super glue, and it comes out of the tube fast. The thickness of the top coat depends on how heavily you apply the stuff. I applied it very liberally at first, and while it looked really cool, it took forever to dry.

Once dry, I added felt stick-on feet on each corner.﻿

Viola! Fancy coasters to set your drink on. Clearly, from the photo below, I definitely need coasters - see the hideous water rings?

I really like the final product. I think next time I will invest in a paper cutter and some fancier stark white tiles, so I can have that clean white edge around the outside.

And here they are, in action. Had to get my "Ho" cup in there to represent. Probably the best bridesmaid gift ever.

I'll take another stab at these at some point. But I have already given the orange/grey set to a friend, and she loves them!